Pred's Coach Barry Trotz Finishes Second in Jack Adams Voting

Tippett received 57 of 59 first place votes (291 points). He led the Coyotes to the playoffs after being hired immediately before Phoenix's season opener. The Yotes experienced a summer of discontent last year when ownership was tied up in the court system and remains unclear almost a year later.

Tippett joked when receiving the award that he would like to thank the owners but wasn't sure who they were.

Trotz finished second in the voting with 60 points after leading the Predators to a seventh place finish in the Western Conference and 100 points for the season. Trotz's Preds have made the playoffs five of the last six seasons while being among the lowest salaried teams in the NHL.

Colorado's Joe Sacco finished third in the voting with 51 points. Detroit's Mike Babcock received the other two first place votes while finishing fourth with 38 points.

Other winners included Henrik Sedin winning the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP; Duncan Keith with the Norris as best defenseman; Ryan Miller won the Vezina for best goaltender: and Tyler Meyers captured the Calder as rookie of the year.

One of the more emotional awards was Jose Theodore winning the Masterton Trophy that is awarded annually to the NHL player who "best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey."

Theodore lost his new born baby last summer due to complications of premature birth. He received the Masterton the day after what would have been his child's first birthday. Winning the award was an emotional experience that was bittersweet under the circumstances.

"It's not an award growing up that you look at it and you aim for because a lot of times it means you had a sickness or a tragedy. So it's not something you look toward," Theodore explained. "But I always admired the people that won it, because I know they have to make comebacks and fight through a lot of adversity."

I also enjoyed seeing the Coyote's Shane Doan win the King Clancy Trophy that is given for leadership and humanitarian contribution. Of all the players around the league Doan appears to enjoy pre-game warm-ups more than any other player.

When asked about his pre-game fun, Doan responded that he enjoyed every minute on the ice and always can't wait unto the next game of practice to get to do it all over again. What a tribute to the game it is to be able to enjoy playing that much.

In summary, this year's awards show appeared to be more upbeat and fun for the audience in the theater and at home than in last year's first stop in Las Vegas.

We will be editing and posting a bunch of video over the next few weeks as we continue to travel on to the draft in Los Angeles and onward on our extended working vacation.

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